Chronic anosognosia: a case report and theoretical account

Cocchini, Gianna; Beschin, Nicoletta and Della Sala, Sergio. 2002. Chronic anosognosia: a case report and theoretical account. Neuropsychologia, 40(12), pp. 2030-2038. ISSN 00283932 [Article]

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Abstract or Description

Unawareness of motor disorders (anosognosia) has often been reported after brain lesions, and it has been considered a temporary condition common in the acute and post-acute phases. The presence of anosognosia in a chronic phase (i.e. lasting more than few weeks) is a rare occurrence, thought to be the result of reasoning deficits which prevent patients from performing an adequate check of reality. Although this assumption is widely shared amongst researchers, only a few studies have actually addressed this issue. We report on the case of a patient (NS) who was still showing anosognosia for hemiplegia 1 year after a traumatic brain–head injury, while his reasoning abilities were well preserved. By means of a series of tests and experiments, we evaluated the main theoretical approaches. NS’s long-lasting anosognosia is discussed in terms of a combination of clinical manifestations, whereby personal neglect and motor–sensory information play a key role in preventing awareness, whereas memory difficulties in updating pre-existing personal schema may be crucial in maintaining NS’s anosognosic status.

Item Type:

Article

Identification Number (DOI):

https://doi.org/10.1016/S0028-3932(02)00054-4

Departments, Centres and Research Units:

Psychology

Dates:

DateEvent
29 May 2002Published

Item ID:

5055

Date Deposited:

02 Mar 2011 11:44

Last Modified:

30 Jun 2017 14:13

Peer Reviewed:

Yes, this version has been peer-reviewed.

URI:

https://research.gold.ac.uk/id/eprint/5055

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